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Podcasts Take Two
Where a key part of California's fire prevention fund comes from and how it's spent
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Oct 6, 2015
Listen • 6:16
Where a key part of California's fire prevention fund comes from and how it's spent
In the past few months, multiple wildfires have stretched California's resources thin, putting a strain on crews and equipment.
A house is engulfed in flames as firefighters attempt to put it out during the Valley Fire in Seigler Springs, California on September 13, 2015. The governor of California declared a state of emergency Sunday as raging wildfires spread in the northern part of the drought-ridden US state, forcing thousands to flee the flames. The town of Middletown, population 1,300, was particularly devastated by the Valley Fire, according to local daily Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, which said the fire grew from 50 acres to 10,000 over just five hours Saturday -- before quadrupling in size overnight.
A house is engulfed in flames as firefighters attempt to put it out during the Valley Fire in Seigler Springs, California on September 13, 2015.
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Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images
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In the past few months, multiple wildfires have stretched California's resources thin, putting a strain on crews and equipment.

In the past few months, multiple wildfires have stretched California's resources thin, putting a strain on crews and equipment.

So why does the state have tens of millions of dollars in a fire prevention fund that remains unspent?

Sacramento Bee reporter Jim Miller writes the Capitol Alert blog and looked into what's called the State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund.

In response to KPCC's questions about the fund, Daniel Berlant, spokesperson for Cal Fire said in a statement:



"The Fire Prevention Fee Fund is a relatively new fund, so while in the first year we were able to spend $51 million on fire prevention, that has gone up to nearly $93 million this past fiscal year. In just the past couple years we have been able to use over $200 million on critical fire prevention projects like brush clearance, fuel breaks, defensible space inspections, and evacuation routes."